The clarion., 1887-07-20
/ HE CLARION.
WEDNESDAY, July 20, 1887.
WATERING THE FLOCKS.
Or. TALMAGE'S SECOND SERMON
AT THE HAMPTONS.


pei Wen Deep Enough to ouench the
Thirst of All.
THE HAMPToYs, July 1.-THE Rev. T.
De Witt Talmage, DID, pastor at the
Brooklyn Tabernacle, continues to enjoy
the summer in this pleasant place. His
sermon for today was on the text, 1--WE
cannA Until all the fiocks be gathered to-
gether, and till they roll the stone from
the wells mouth; then we water the
sheep. "--Genesis xxx, s.
"A scene in Mesopotamia, beautifully
pastoral A well of water Of great value
in that region. The fields around about
1T white with three fiocks of sheep lying
down waiting for the watering / hear
their bleating coming on the bright air,
and the laughter of young men and
maidens indulging in rustic repartee. /
look off and see other fiocks of sheep
coming. Meanwhile Jacob, a stranger,
on the interesting errand Of looking for a
wife, comes to the well. A beautiful
shepherdess comes to the same well. I
see her approaching, followed by her
fathers flock Of sheep. 1t was a memo
rable meeting. Jacob married that shep-
herdess. The Bible account Of it is:
Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up
his voice and wept." 1t has always been
a mystery to me what he found 20 cry
about But before that scene occurred,
Jacob accosts the shepherds and asks
them why they postpone the shaking of
the thirst of these sneep and why they
did not Immediately proceed to water
them. The shepherds reply to the effect:
eve are all good neighbors, and as a mat
ter Of courtesy we wait until all the sheep
of the neighborhood come up Besides
that, this stone on the wells mouth is
somewhat heavy, and several Of us take
hold of IL and push il aside, and then the
buckets and the troughs are filed, and
the sheep are satisfied We cannot, until
all the flocks are gathered together, and
till they roll the stone from the Wells
mouth; then we water the sheep"
Oh, this is a thirsty world Hot for
the head, and blistering for the feet, and
parehing for the tongue. The worlds
great want is cool, refreshing, satisfying
draught. We wander around and we
find the cistern empty. Long and tedi-
. Gus drought has dried up the worlds
fountains but nearly nineteen centuries
ago a shepherd with crook in the shape Of
cross, and feet cut TO the bleeding, ex-
plored the desert passages Of this world,
and one day came across well a tholr-
sand feet deep, bubbling and bright and
opalescent, and looked to the north, and
the south, and the east, and the west, and
cried out with voice strong and musical
that rang through the ages, t'Ho, every
one that thirsteth, come ye to the watersr'
Now a great flock of sheep today gather
around this Gospel well. There are a
great many thirsty souls. i wonder why
the flocks of all nations do not gather
why so many stay thirsty; and while
am wondering about it, my text breaks
forth in the explanation, saying: eve
cannot, until all the flocks be gathered to-
gether, and till they roll the stone from
the wells mouth; then we water the
sheep"
If n herd Of swine come to well they
angrily jostle each other for the prece-
dence; il n drove of cattle come to we'll
they hook each other back from the water,
but when flock of sheep come, though u
hundred Of them shall be disappointed,
they only express it by sad bleating they
come together peacefully. We want u
great multitude to come around the Gospel
well. / know there are those who do
not like a crowd - they think a crowd
is vulgar. If they are oppressed for room
in church it makes them positively impa-
tient and belligerent. We have had peo-
= pie permanently leave our church because
so many other people come to It, No so
did these oriental shepherds They waited
until all the flocks were gathered, and the
more fiocks that came the better they
liked it. And 50 we ought to be anxious
that all the people should come Go out
into the highways and the hedges and
compel them to come in. Go to the rich
and tell them they are INDECENT without
the Gospel of Jesus Go to the poor and
tell them the affiuence there is in Christ
Go to the blind and tell them of the touch
that gives eternal illumination Go to
the lame and tell them of the Joy that
will make the lame man leap like hart.
Gather all the sheep off of all the noun
tains. None so torn of the dogs, none SO
sick. none so worried, none so dying, as to
be omitted. Why not gather a great
fiock3 All Brooklyn in flock; all New
York in O flock; all London in a flock: all
the world in flock. This Gospel well is
deep enough to put out the burning thirst
of the twelve hundred millions of the race
Do not let the church, by spirit of ex-
clusiveness, keep the world out. Let
down all the bars, swing open all the
gates, scatter all the invitations, ''Whoso-
ever will, let him come" Come, white
and black Come, red men of the forest.
Come, Laplander, out of the snow. Come,
Patagonian, out of the heat. Come in
furs. Come painting under palm leaves
Come one. Come all. Come now. As
at this well of Mesopotamia Jacob and
Rachel were betrothed, so this morning at
this well of salvation Christ our Shepherd
will meet you coming up with your long
flocks of cares and anxieties, and he will
stretch out his hand in pledge of his af-
fection, while all heaven will cry out,
'tBehold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye
out to meet him.
You notice that this well of Mesopota-
mia had a stone on it, which must be re-
moved before the sheep could be watered
and find ON the well of salvation today
fmpediments and obstacles, which must
be removed in order that you may obtain
the refreshment and life of this gospel
In your case the empediment is pride of
heart. You cannot bear to come to so
democratica a fountain; you do not want
TO come with so many others. 1t is TO
you like when you are dry, coming to a
town pump, as compared with sitting in a
parlor slipping out Of chased chalice
which has just been lifted from a silver
salver Not so many pubhcans and sin
ners. You want to get to heaven, but ID
must be ina special car, with your feet
on a Turkish ottoman and band of
music on board the train. You do not
want to be in company with rustic Jacob
and Rachel, and to be drinking out of the
fountain where ten thousand sheep have
been drinking before you. You will have
TO remove the obstacle of pride, or never
Ahd ia WY W tic well. lOlt VIII il&lNe
TO com as we came, willing to take the
water OF eternal life in any way, and at
any hand, and in any kind of pitcher, cry
ing out: TOh, Lord Jesus, l am dying of
thirst. Give me the water of eternal life,
whether in trough or goblet; give me the
water of life; / care not in what it comes
to me- Away with all your hindrances
Of pride from the wells mouth.
Here is another man who is kept back
from this weter of life by the stone of an
obdurate heart. which lies over the mouth
Of the well. You have no more feeling
upon this subject than if God had
yet to do you the first kindness, or
you had TO do God the first wrong.
Seated on his lap all these years,
: his everlasting arms sheltering yon,
(. where is your gratitudes Where is
your morning and evening prayer Where
are your consecrated lives? i say TO you,
as Daniel said to Belshazzar:. 1.-The God
? in whose hand thy breath is, and all thy
way, thou hast not gloriied.n If you
treated anybody as badly as You have
treated God you would have made 500
apologies; yea, your whole life would have
been an apology. Three times day you
have been seated at Gods table. Spring,
summer, autumn and winter he has ap-
propriately appareled you. Your health
from him, your companion from him,
+, your children from him, your home from
him; all the bright surrounding of your
life from him. Oman, what dost thou with
that hard hearty Canst thou not feel one
throb Of gratitude toward the God that
made you, and the Christ who came to re-
deem you, and the Holy Ghost who has
all these years been importuning you? If
you could sit down five minutes under the
tree of a Saviour's martyrdom, and feel
his warm life trickling on your forehead,
and cheek, and hands. methinks Won